Firstday Gifts
by MsBarrows
Summary: A fluffy little fic about some special gifts for special friends.


**There was a Secret Santa exchange in the Dragon Age community over on Tumblr. A number of the participants won't be getting their present from their Secret Santas until late, so a call went out for people to make little extra gifts that they could get in the meantime. Yesterday I noticed that one of the people on the list is an artist whose drawings I love - they create Sebastian-Fenris and Sebastian-Anders drawings (and the odd Anders-Sebastian-Fenris drawing - see link in my profile). So I very happily volunteered to write a little ficlet for them to enjoy until their real Santa's gift appears.**

**Reposted here with their permission, this is my little gift for rustedchild. Just a short piece about two of the characters they (and I!) both happen to ship. With gleeful thanks for all the lovely artwork of theirs that keeps cropping up on my dash.**

**Couldn't quite manage to shoehorn Anders in this one, so it's a Fenris-Sebastian Firstday Eve fluff fic, with a complimentary Merrill appearance.**

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><p>It was easy to forget at times how close Kirkwall was to snowy Ferelden. Perched on the warm northern shore of the Waking Sea as it was, it only rarely received any snow itself. But every now and then there'd be a day or two, sometimes even a week, when frigid winds blew north across the sea, and at those times the weather could suddenly change to freezing rain or heavy snowfall in a remarkably short time, as the warm moisture-laden air over the sea was forced upwards and northwards by the cold air, and dumped its accumulated moisture as the change in altitude cooled it.<p>

Every time it happened seemed to Sebastian a fresh miracle, the city coated in a sparkly coat of beautiful white snow, reminding him of the snowier winters he'd grown up with in the highlands of Starkhaven, which while further north than Kirkwall did not have the benefit of a large warm sea to ameliorate its climate. Their winter was short, but often fierce, and he was more used to snow than many of the inhabitants of the seaside city. Apart from the displaced Fereldans, of course, to whom the rare brief snowstorm was a reminder of the cold lands they'd fled in the Blight Year, more likely to cause homesickness than any real distress.

At least among those who had proper shelter and clothing, he reminded himself, and wondered how those down in Darktown were faring in such inclement weather. They'd see little actual snow down there, the deeply burrowed tunnels protecting them from almost all forms of precipitation save what blew in on gusts of wind through the giant openings chipped into the exterior rock face, overlooking the inlet below. But the cold would penetrate, and few were the places that the wind could not reach when blowing from the right quarter. Anders would be dealing with many colds and fevers over the days to come, not to mention the potential for frostbite and similar cold-related problems.

The chantry was doing what it could to help the poor, of course; he'd helped carry down piles of thick blankets himself earlier in the day, which were being distributed freely to any who needed them. Many would doubtless turn up in the market as soon as the weather warmed again, sold to provide money for more immediate needs, like food. And the chantry would likely buy up many of them, to redistribute the next time the weather turned bitter. A cumbersome, round-a-bout system perhaps, but it worked.

He walked down the freshly-swept stone stairs to the snow-covered courtyard, hurrying now; the Hightown market would be closing soon, and he wished to pick up something to take with him when he went to visit Fenris this evening, food for the both of them and perhaps a small gift for his friend. It was Firstday tomorrow, and that was a time for exchanging gifts; meaningful ones, to the very closest of family or friends only, not like the larger, more widespread exchanges at Satinalia.

He picked up food first of all – some fresh-baked bread and a sharp-flavoured soft cheese blended with herbs that he knew Fenris favoured, a bunch of hothouse grapes – hideously expensive, but well worth the cost, in his opinion, for the rare treat they'd be. He picked up a canister of a spiced tea blend that he knew Grand Cleric Elthina loved, to give as a gift to her the next day, then started looking for something as a gift for Fenris as well.

The elf, he soon decided, was cursedly hard to buy for. There was so little he truly needed, living as simply as he did.

"Oh! Sebastian! I didn't expect to see you here," a familiar cheerful voice exclaimed. "Well, truthfully I suppose I don't expect to see you anywhere, other than in the chantry. Or at the Hanged Man. Or accompanying Hawke. Oh. I suppose I expect to see you all sorts of places. Even here!"

"Merrill," Sebastian said, turning and giving her a polite bow. He found himself thinking yet again what a pity it was that the elven girl had involved herself in the foulness of blood magic; she seemed a charmingly innocent creature most of the time, but he sometimes found himself wondering whether that was her true personality, or a disguise of the demon she consorted with. But Hawke, he knew, liked the girl – loved her, even, and was determined to redeem her from blood magery – and so he kept his reservations to himself, most of the time, and tried to treat her much as he did the remainder of Hawke's odd assortment of companions.

He noticed the bundles she carried in her arms, and couldn't help but smile. "Shopping for a Firstday gift for Hawke?" he asked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, beaming happily. "Or rather I've already made him one, I'm just picking up some odds and ends I need to give to Isabela and Varric. Mostly I made things though, it's much cheaper that way. But some things I can't make, so I have to buy them instead. Anyway. Are you buying gifts too?" she asked, looking at the bundles in Sebastian's arms.

Sebastian nodded. "I was trying to think of what I could get Fenris," he found himself admitting.

"Oh, he's hard to buy for!" Merrill exclaimed, wide-eyed. "I gave him a hat at Satinalia. I don't think he's ever worn it. Maybe I should have made something plainer. I don't think ear flaps and a pom-pom is quite him, somehow. Hawke loved his though, he wears it all the time."

Sebastian smiled slightly. "No, I somehow can't see Fenris in a hat with a pom-pom," he agreed solemnly. "Though the idea of getting him something warm is a good one; that mansion he lives in is more hole than ceiling."

Merrill nodded, then her face suddenly brightened with a beaming smile. "Oh! There was something I saw him looking at a few days ago, when the weather turned cold... let me see, where was it..." she said, looking around, before darting off toward a far corner of the market, slipping through the crowded square with ease.

Sebastian followed after her, to a small table under the raised arcade at one side. His eyes widened at the merchandise on display there, a great variety of items made of fur or fur-trimmed leather. "Exquisite!" he breathed, longing to reach out and bury his cold fingers in the soft fur. He smiled warmly at Merrill. "I can see why these caught his eye. Was there anything in particular he was looking at?"

She frowned at the table. "These," she said, and pointed to a folded stack at one end. "There was one in white... but it seems to be gone already," she said, looking disappointed for a moment.

Sebastian smiled warmly at her. "I am sure some other colour will do as well," he told her, and quickly sorted through the pile, selecting one in soft black-tipped grey fur – black fox, he thought – and after glancing at Merrill and catching the longing way she was looking at the beautiful furs, suddenly picked up a set of gloves as well; green sueded leather, with tawny gold fur around the cuffs. "I'll want these as well," he told the stall owner. He winced slightly at the total cost of his purchase, but happily paid for it all, then turned and offered the gloves to Merrill with a bow. "My thanks for your help," he told her, and couldn't help but smile as her eyes widened in surprise.

"You shouldn't have!" she exclaimed. "I couldn't!"

He grinned widely at her. "Please, accept them – I would never have thought of something like this for Fenris without your help," he told her, patting the sizable parcel containing Fenris' gift. "And I can see you have no gloves."

"Well. All right then," she said, and smiled shyly at him as she accepted them. "Thank you very much, Sebastian," she said, with real warmth in her voice and eyes. "Oh! And take this," she added, holding out a cylindrical package. "I made too many anyway, and you and Fenris can enjoy these together."

"Thank you, Merrill," Sebastian said. "Well, I suppose we'd both better get a move on. I can walk you to Hawke's door if you'd like, or do you have more shopping to do?"

"Thank you, that would be very nice of you," Merrill said, giving him an especially cheerful smile. He escorted the elf out of the market and through the maze of the upper town, seeing her safely to Hawke's mansion, knowing his presence with her would prevent any templars or guards who might otherwise question her presence here from bothering the girl. He wished her a pleasant Firstday Eve before parting with her, continuing on to Fenris' house.

He didn't knock; Fenris disliked having to come downstairs to let people in, and solved it simply by never bothering to lock his door. The bodies strewn in the entrance-way usually served to dissuade casual intruders, and abundantly warned all others of what their likely fate would be if they continued further into the dilapidated mansion. The peculiar preservation of the corpses – some had been there for years, Sebastian knew – was some lingering effect of Danarius' magic, still remaining in operation even years after the magister's last visit to Kirkwall.

Sebastian smiled as he hurried up the stairs, looking at the knit hat perched on top of the cracked head of one of the statues that lined the walls. One recent mystery solved. It was not an unattractive hat, he judged, but certainly not something the elf was likely to wear. Though if the weather grew much colder perhaps the warrior would overcome his distaste for it and decide that warm ears were more important than asthetics.

"It's me," Sebastian called out as he neared the top of the stairs.

"I'm in here," Fenris called back; not really necessary words, since when he was inside he always lurked in the same single room, shunning the remainder of the mansion apart from his occasional foray to the cellar for wine, or brief search through other rooms for something to chop up and use as firewood. But it was his usual greeting, the friendly, welcoming tone to Fenris' voice making up for the shortness of his words.

Sebastian grinned as he walked in the door, seeing the elf standing at the table, already opening a bottle of wine. He walked over, juggling his parcels around enough to free one hand so he could brush aside the elf's hair, and ghost a kiss over the nape of his neck. Fenris made a rumbling sound of appreciation, turning his head enough to give Sebastian a sideways look as the prince stepped past him and began setting parcels down on the table. He looked questioningly at them. "What is all this?" he asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Mainly food," Sebastian said, carefully setting down most of the parcels on the table. He tossed the largest one casually over to the floor beside his usual chair, then began unwrapping and putting out things. "Bread and cheese, some grapes... and this is from Merrill, I bumped into her in the market... ah, she baked cookies."

"Mmm," Fenris grunted, reaching out to pick one up. He sniffed it cautiously, before smiling approvingly. "Spice cookies," he said, and ate it in two bites, then nodded happily as he reached to try some of the grapes as well.

Sebastian picked up the opened wine bottle, and poured some for himself, then handed the bottle back to Fenris. He cut the bread in thick slices, spreading them with the soft cheese, before picking up his goblet and a slice of bread and moving to sit down in his usual chair. The room was quite chilly, he noticed, what little heat the fireplace was throwing mainly escaping out the sizable hole in the ceiling. He frowned as he looked over Fenris, as the elf helped himself to more grapes and some of the bread, before sitting down as well, the bottle of wine at his elbow. The elf was pretending to be unaffected by the cold, but he could see from here the slight shivers that passed through him at intervals, and the way he held all but the very heels of his feet up off of the cold stone floor as he sat, toes tightly curled. Sebastian began to regret not picking up something hot to eat; stew, or some skewers of meat, anything that could be easily rewarmed in the fireplace.

He put down his goblet, and picked up the parcel from beside his chair. "I, err... I got you a gift," he said hesitantly.

Fenris smiled slightly. "I picked up something for you as well," he said, and leaned down to drag a parcel out from under the table.

Sebastian smiled, and the two exchanged items. Whatever it contained was squishy, Sebastian noted as he set the large package down in his lap and drew out a dagger to cut the string tying it closed. Fenris was more direct, using the sharp-edged tips of his gauntlets to snap the cord around his.

They both peeled back the paper around their gifts, then stared in equal shock at what the parcels contained. Sebastian laughed first, as he picked up and unfolded the white fur blanket his had held, shaking it out over his lap. "It's beautiful, Fenris!" he exclaimed, and smiled across at the elf, who was petting the mound of black-tipped fur in his own lap with a look of pleased surprise.

"As is your gift," Fenris rumbled, then laughed briefly and unfolded his as well, spreading it out over his own lap, tucking it down the sides of his legs and under his feet. The expression on his face betrayed little, but the way his hand kept petting at the fur spoke much; Sebastian was pleased to see that the elf liked the gift so well.

"An odd coincidence, that we both thought of the same gifts for each other," Fenris observed.

"Not entirely coincidence; I mentioned bumping into Merrill in the market, did I not? I told her I was shopping for a gift for you, and she told me she'd seen you admiring these earlier in the week."

Fenris snorted, then smiled slightly. "I remember the day. The weather was just turning cold, and I found myself thinking how chilly your cell in the chantry must be. I didn't have enough money on me at the time, so I went back the next day to buy it."

Sebastian smiled warmly at the warrior. "Well, I thank you for it. I will sleep warm and snug on these cold nights, with this on my bed."

Fenris smiled again. "As will I, with this," he said, then looked shyly at Sebastian, a definite glint in his eyes. "Perhaps you'd like to help me test how warm it is, later...?"

Sebastian grinned, and settled back comfortably in his chair, mind already filling with the thought of what Fenris would look like, naked in a nest of black and white furs. "Of course," he agreed. "Once we've finished our little feast. I am not expected back at the chantry until tomorrow afternoon."

"Good," Fenris said, and lifted the bottle of wine, taking a long sip from it. "We can have a very pleasant Firstday Eve together."

"Aye," Sebastian agreed, and the two exchanged a smile of perfect accord, settling down for a long evening of drinking and talking, content to take pleasure in each other's company before taking pleasure in each other.


End file.
